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How to Secure Your WordPress Website: The 10 Best WordPress Security Plugins

How to Secure Your WordPress Website: the 10 Best WordPress Security Plugins

According to Wordfence, WordPress plugin vulnerabilities represented 55.9% of known entry points with regards to security. After all the work you put into your WordPress website or blog, the last thing you want to deal with is a security breach. The problems compound if your website is destroyed, and you don’t have a current backup. At Avex Designs, we specialize in creating WordPress websites for major brands, and it’s imperative that they’re safe and secure. Below are some of the practices we follow and plugins we use on our website and client projects.

General WordPress Security Tips

Many of the common security issues associated with WordPress websites are easy to fix. A few important rules of thumb to follow:

Change your passwords frequently

Make your WP Admin password hard to guess by not re-using something you’ve used previously, adding numbers and symbols, and switching it up between lowercase and uppercase characters. Use a password manager like LastPass to avoid security issues caused by sending it through email or another unsecured medium.

Download only from recognized sources

From WordPress plugins to themes, if you haven’t heard of the creator before, or there isn’t much information about them available online, their products might be a security risk. Instead, opt to download from recognized and well-reviewed sources.

Keep plugins, themes, and WordPress up to date

According to WP WhiteSecurity, 73.2% of the most popular WordPress installations are vulnerable to hacker attacks. An easy way to reduce hacker vulnerabilities is to always have the latest version of installed themes, plugins, and WordPress software. Updates usually include fixes for known security issues.

In addition to following security best practices, there are specific plugins on the market that can help secure your WordPress install. Protect your WordPress website before anything bad happens by planning ahead, and creating a solid foundation. Here are the 10 best security plugins.

iThemes Security

iThemes Security is one of the best Premium WordPress security plugins on the market, with a over 30 security features, like:

Database backup: Schedule backups, then get files emailed to you.

Brute force protection: A person trying to determine your password gets locked out after a certain number of attempts.

Hide login and admin: Makes it more difficult for hackers to gain access to your website.

iThemes Security offers a number of paid options, that start at $80/year for up to two websites.

Security Ninja

Security Ninja is a Premium WordPress security plugin that is brilliant in its simplicity. It scans for security problems using 40+ tests, and color coded results with problems and possible solutions pop up in less than a minute.

Pricing starts at $39/year for a single site, $79/year for a multi-site package, and a $199 one time fee to protect up to 99 websites for a lifetime.

Acunetix WP Security Scan

The Acunetix WP Security Scan is a free WordPress Security plugin that like many others on this list, scans your WordPress website for security vulnerabilities. Special features include a strong password generator that helps prevent brute force attacks, and protection from zero day vulnerabilities (holes in the WordPress software).

WordFence

One of the most comprehensive premium WordPress security plugins on this list, Wordfence, has most if not all of the WordPress security features worth installing. Some of the best reasons to use Wordfence include:

Email/SMS notifications: Become aware of problems as they happen, even if you’re not by your computer.

BulletProof Security

BulletProof Security is a Premium WordPress security plugin, but instead of charging a yearly price, it costs just $59.95 as a one time fee. Unlike many of the other WordPress security plugins on this list, it can be difficult to configure for your website without a technical understanding – keep that in mind before purchasing. Top features include:

Self-repairing and self-configuring abilities

Elimination of spambot registrations, logins, and comments (which represent 99% of all website spamming, according to BulletProof Security’s website)

Auto-quarantine of malicious hacker files/autorestore of legitimate website files if they’ve been tampered with

Vault Press

You never know when your WordPress website is going to be attacked, so it’s beneficial to use VaultPress, which scans your entire website, every day. This premium WordPress security plugin also helps with simple fixes and will automatically fix the more dangerous threats for you, without intervention.

As a part of the Jetpack plugin, pricing starts at $3.50/month and $39/year, and scales up depending on whether you’re using Jetpack Personal, Premium, or Professional.

Sucuri Security

Sucuri Security is a premium WordPress plugin that acts as a website firewall. Support is some of the best of any WordPress plugin, with 24/7 service response.

Pricing starts at $199.99/year for the Basic package, and is by no means cheap. But if your website gets a lot of traffic, it’s worth insuring your investment of time and money to get to this point.

SiteGuarding

SiteGuarding is a premium WordPress security with a number of functions that include:

Malware detection and removal

Automatic backup of files every 3-5 days

Blacklist removal (Google, McAfee, Norton)

Pricing starts at $6.95/month/site, and scales up depending on how much traffic and content your website has. For developers, cheaper bulk plans are available.

All In One WP Security & Firewall

All in One WP Security & Firewall is a free WordPress security plugin that protects against brute force login attacks, and also has a security scanner that alerts you as to if a file was changed so you can review what happened.The last thing you’ll ever want to deal with is a security vulnerability that destroys your website, which can be expensive and time-consuming to fix. Protect your website from unnecessary downtime by installing one or many of these 10 best WordPress security plugins.

AUTHOR BIO

Maddy Osman is a freelance copywriter at Avex Designs. She creates engaging content with SEO best practices for marketing thought leaders and agencies that have their hands full with clients and projects. Learn more about her process and read her latest articles on Twitter: @MaddyOsman